Autumn is in full swing so I thought I’d finally do some baking to warm up these chillier days. Unfortunately work has gotten busier so I haven’t written as much recently, but this delicious dessert has made me realise how much I like trying out new recipes and eating it all afterwards 😀

This spiced toffee apple cake is the perfect answer to cold grey afternoons when all you want to do is curl up in bed. In fact I think this is what a hug would taste like if you ate it. It does take a bit of prep before baking but it’s actually quite therapeutic and the results are well worth it.

Ingredients

• 200 g dates (I used medjool)
• 200 ml milk
• 200 g unsalted butter, softened
• 175 g light soft brown sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 250 g self-raising flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 small red apples (I used cox)
• 1/2 bramley apple
• Squeeze of lemon juice
• For the toffee sauce:
  • 8 toffees
  • Splash of milk
  • Pinch of sea salt

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C / 160°C fan / 350°F.
2. Line your baking tin with parchment paper.
3. Roughly chop the dates and simmer gently in the milk in a saucepan for 5 mins. Leave to cool.
4. Blitz the dates and milk in a blender / food processor until it forms a smooth puree.
5. Prepare the apples. Peel and dice the bramley apple into small chunks.
6. Quarter and core the cox apples and cut into thin slices. Toss them with a squeeze of lemon juice and leave in a bowl.
7. Using an electric whisk, cream together the butter and sugar. Crack in the eggs, one at a time and mixing in between. Add in the date puree and vanilla extra and continue whisking until smooth, but don’t worry if there are still some lumps.
8. Combine the dry ingredients in a separate bowl (flour, baking powder and spices).
9. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until well combined.
10. Add the diced bramley apple into the cake batter and mix gently.
11. Scrape the cake batter into the baking tray.
12. Arrange the sliced apples into overlapping rows on top of the cake. You should be able to get three rows.
13. Bake for 50 minutes until a skewer poked into the centre comes out clean.
14. While you leave the cake to cool, prepare the toffee sauce. You can either melt the toffees with a splash of milk and a pinch of salt in a saucepan, or in the microwave (mixing every 30 seconds). Start with less milk and add more to loosen the sauce if it is too stiff.
15. Drizzle the toffee sauce generously over the cake.
16. Serve warm (and with vanilla ice cream, if you’d like) – enjoy!

(Recipe adapted from bbcgoodfood.com)

This cake is wonderfully moist (thanks to the date puree) and surprisingly fluffy. The sharp tangy apples are nicely balanced against the salted toffee drizzle. I can’t wait to try out more recipes with autumn and winter flavours, and I hope you give this one a go!